The invention generally relates to machinery used in recycling waste and particularly to an apparatus which opens plastic bags containing compostable materials and which disperses the compostable materials onto compost piles at a large scale composting facility.
As people have become more involved with recycling, composting has increasingly become a viable alternative for the disposal of organic waste such as leaves, branches and twigs. While the small compost pile has been popular with homeowners for some time, composting has only recently gained popularity with municipalities as an effective method for reducing the volume of waste being disposed of in general landfills.
A large scale compost yard or composting facility, as would be typically used by a municipality or other community, generally includes a large tract of land having a number of compost rows or piles. Depending on the size of the municipality and the amount of composting being done, the rows may vary in size. Typically, the compost rows are about six feet in height with taller compost rows being possible.
In collections from households for composting at the community site, the compostable materials are typically received in plastic bags which are tied or otherwise closed. At the compost yard, the bags containing the compostable materials, hereinafter referred to as bales, must be manually opened. The compostable materials are then manually separated from the plastic bags and spread onto the compost piles. The process is both time consuming and labor intensive.
In view of the procedure outlined above, it is an object of the present invention to substantially automate the opening of the bales and spreading of the compostable materials. To this end, this invention provides an apparatus which efficiently and effectively opens the bales in which compostable materials are received at the compost yard. After opening the bales, the apparatus of this invention provides for the emptying and separating of the compostable materials from the plastic bags and provides for the dispersing of the compostable materials onto the rows of compost. As such, the apparatus readily disseminates the compostable materials once received at the compost yard.
In achieving these objects, the present invention generally includes an inclined conveyor of the endless belt variety. The belt of the conveyor is provided with projecting tines which, as the bales are loaded onto the conveyor, pierce the plastic bags of the bales and hold the bales in position. The bales are carried by the conveyor and a cutting element engages the bales to lengthwise cut and open the plastic bags. The cutting element also acts upon the opened bales to laterally spread the plastic bags and more fully expose the compostable materials.
At the upper end of the conveyor is a receiving bin and blower. Once an opened bale reaches the upper end of the conveyor, the tines pull the bale over the end of the conveyor, effectively dumping and emptying the compostable materials into the receiving bin. The blower is operated to disperse the compostable materials through a discharge chute formed in the receiving bin. A number of the tines are generally oriented in a direction toward the side of the apparatus to which the blower is attached. The orientation holds the bags on the tines as the blower is operated.
Once the compostable materials have been emptied, the plastic bags remain engaged on the tines and are drawn along the return or lower side of the conveyor. A rotating brush engages and removes the bags from the tines and the conveyor. The roller brush deposits the empty bags onto a second conveyor which feeds the bags into a conventional baling or bundling machine. Upon receiving an appropriate number of plastic bags, the baler produces a bale of used plastic bags which may be recycled or otherwise disposed of properly.
Additional benefits and advantages of the presen invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art t which this invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.